14 Chapter I. 



1879, in 71 35' north latitude and 175 6' east longitude, 

 south-east of Wrangel's Land which, however, proved 

 to be a small island and drifted with the ice in a west- 

 north-westerly direction for two years, when it foundered, 

 June 1 2th, 1 88 1, north of the New Siberian Islands, in 

 77 15' north latitude and 154 59' east longitude. 



Everywhere, then, has the ice stopped the progress of 

 mankind towards the north. In two cases only have 

 ice-bound vessels drifted in a northerly direction in 

 the case of the Tegethoff and the Jeannettc while most 

 of the others have been carried away from their goal 

 by masses of ice drifting southwards. 



On reading the history of Arctic explorations, it early 

 occurred to me that it would be very difficult to wrest 

 the secrets from these unknown regions of ice by 

 adopting the routes and the methods hitherto employed. 

 But where did the proper route lie ? 



It was in the autumn of 1884 that I happened to see 

 an article by Professor Mohn in the Norwegian 

 Morgcnblad, in which it was stated that sundry articles 

 which must have come from the Jeannette had been 

 found on the south-west coast of Greenland. He 

 conjectured that they must have drifted on a floe right 

 across the Polar Sea. It immediately occurred to me 

 that here lay the route ready to hand. If a floe could 

 drift right across the unknown region, that drift might 

 also be enlisted in the service of exploration- and my 

 plan was laid. Some years, however, elapsed before, in 



